National Museum of Australia's Torres Strait Islands mystery object


This interactive, shows a wonderful Torres Strait Island object, made by Torres Strait Island artist, Ken Thaiday, for the collection at the National Museum of Australia.

Take a good look at the object and guess what it could be. Then learn a little more about the Torres Strait Islands and their trading history to find clues about where exactly this type of object could have come from.

National Museum of Australia's Saibai Island canoe

Use traditional fishing practices to catch fish, turtles and dugong from your Saibai Island canoe in preparation for a traditional Torres Strait Islander feast.

You will learn about each of the five Torres Strait Island groups and the people that live on these islands. You will learn all about the canoe and how the Saibai Island people traded with other Torres Strait islands and Papua New Guinea to get the materials to make the canoe.

Before you can go fishing, you need to learn about the types of fish and other animals you need to catch for a traditional feast and the traditional tools you will need to use to catch them. You also need to know how much time you have to fish before the feast and how many of each fish you should catch to feed everyone so there is no waste.

National Museum of Australia's Yalangabara exhibition

Yalangbara: Art of the Djang'kawu is an exhibition of captivating Aboriginal artworks by the Marika family from north-east Arnhem Land exploring the journey of the Djang'kawu ancestors.

Iconography of Dreamtime Symbols

The link to the Aboriginal Art and Culture Centre explains the meaning and representations of the symbols found in Aboriginal art from Central Australia.